Junction plate assemblies comprising a fixed junction plate and a moveable junction plate are used subsea to connect an array of multiple fluid or electrical couplers. The term “fixed junction plate” as used herein means a junction plate whose spatial location is fixed. The term “moveable junction plate” as used herein means a junction plate whose spatial location is not fixed. Forces of up to 1000 pounds per coupler to make a suitable junction plate connection are common.
Once the junction plates are connected, a locking mechanism is required with prior art junction plate assemblies to prevent the plates from disconnecting, while a force of up to 1000 pounds per coupler is being applied. To disconnect the junction plates, a reverse force of up to 1000 pounds per coupler is required to overcome the locking force on each coupler.
Current junction plate assemblies require large mechanisms to apply the forces needed to couple and decouple the junction plates. One type of coupling or decoupling mechanism used with prior art junction plates are lead screws with acme threads. Such mechanisms are expensive. They are typically used for periods of less than one hour during the multi-year lifetime of the junction plate assembly. Current junction plate installation using lead screws with acme threads also entails the use of torque tools involving rotary motion to drive a threaded rod, thereby producing a linear motion for couplers on the junction plate assembly to be “made up.”
The present invention provides the advantage of a reusable running tool which can be hydraulically powered to provide the forces necessary to couple and decouple a junction plate assembly. The running tool can be disconnected from the junction plate assembly once a desired coupling is achieved. This permits the running tool to be used repeatedly to couple or decouple different junction plate assemblies. This provides the advantage of allowing the junction plate assemblies to be manufactured without the expense of a prior art coupling mechanism.